Benton Franklin County Fair 2009

My girls love going to the fair. We spent 12 hours, from the time we left and came back...

Started with our traditional ride on the BFT...I don't know why they love riding it so much (lucky we don't need to use it as a main source of transportation.) Once we got to the fair, we staked out our spot for the Beach Boys concert and then hit the animal barns. Learned quite a bit about cows...and the differences between heifers, bulls, and steers...checked out the sheep and pig barns...rode out to the horse area...While eating lunch we watched a magic show and then visited the exhibits. Didn't seem to be as many items to collect like years past...made off with gobs of pens, but very few balloons and candies (yeah!!) Still had a number of frisbees and fans tho...

As usual we visited the bunny barn several times...eventually mine and Kiera's sneezing kept us away. Watched a few more "shows"...Kathy and her rope tricks (way too sarcastic for me); a mime/clown-who tried to get Mikenna to help him "play" the cello, but she just put her chin down and shook her head each time he gestered for her to come up; gymnastics routines and clogging dances...

We ate yummy elephant ears-cinnamon everywhere...gobbled some cotton candy...collected pretty rocks in the Ag Building, colored squares for Project Linus...somehow spending our day away...
The night before Stacy and I attended the Clint Black concert. It was fun watching him perform, especially since I'd watched him on the Apprentice...Michael should have come along as well, I found out after I got home from the concert that he knew most of the songs that were sung...The day the girls and I went to the fair, the Beach Boys performed. They were torn between that and the rodeo...Michael took them over to the rodeo while I sat and had my ears blasted out...He came back with Kassi and Mikenna after awhile...When I explained who the people were on stage, Kassi said, "Mom, they like grandpas, not boys. Shouldn't they be called the Beach Grandpas?" Once it was over, we headed back to the rodeo for the bull riding...

We were all exhausted once home!

Silly videos...

Two very silly clips of my girls and what HannahMontannah has done to them...

Silverwood!

We spent a great weekend with our friends the Andrews up at Silverwood! We traveled up Friday morning...early...which made for a long day. (Won't do that again.) Luckily, our friends were nice enough to pitch our tent for us, making it a bit quicker to get in the park. Kassi was pretty disappointed not to be able to get on the big rollar-coasters. The ones she could have rode were LONG lines (1.5-2 hrs). I was surprised at how daring my older two were...they got on the spinning contraption where you stand...Mikenna dared a few twirly rides...I tried a few, but decided to pass on them. So, me, Mikenna and Kassi enjoyed the kiddie rides. We did hop on the ferris wheel. A bit scary, especially when Kassi would bend over to scratch her toes...Mikenna didn't quite like that either. While we were at the top, it started swinging a bit again...Mikenna screamed, "Kassi, don't scratch!!" but it wasn't Kassi's fault that time...we caught a glimsp of Mike and the girls from the top...
We were able to spend a few hours at Boulder Beach depite the cooler temps. Of course we loved the lazy river and snagged a few tubes right at the beginning. Afterwards the bigger girls spent a while at the wave pool and even got to go down a few slides. In the pic below, I think Jason is on the left and Kiera on the right. Mikenna and Kassi hung out with me at the kiddie area...Mikenna even braved going under the raining mushroom!! She would hold her breathe (while puffing out her cheeks) and walk through.
Once it got colder, we dried off and watched the magic show...caught a few more rides...Mikenna crashed before we got back to camp...ate a quick dinner...and then we all slept...I caught a few pics of how be began the night in our tent...and then how it ended up the next morning. Kassi is horizontal, and Kaylee slipped off the mattress entirely.
The next day...we enjoyed a scrumptious breakfast (so glad the Andrews had their camper, esp. since fires were not allowed :( The kids enjoyed catching the numerous grasshoppers...even made a "hotel" for them out of an empty box. I thought it was a bit disgusting. We tried finding a trail for bike riding...did find one, but it ended up being much shorter than we'd thought...headed back to camp, showered, relaxed, ate dinner, relaxed some more...once the kids were in bed we played a few games (learned Canasta) then off to bed...

Fun packed weekend with Friends!! Can't wait to do it again!!

Summer wind down...

Seems like just yesterday summer was beginning, and now we are looking at the last few days!! We have several campouts to look forward to, days of swimming with cousins, hanging out at the park with friends and family, running through water sprays, reading books, watching movies, playing games....activities we've done all summer...and will especially enjoy since we only have a few days left until school starts!!

Kiera is EIGHT!!

My Kiera is eight years old!! Amazing...she can be one of my most responsible helpers. I can count on her to be ever so watchful of Mikenna, so patient and calm. Her response to caos and commotion is usually a sweet, "OK mom." She can be super silly too!! I have the funniest video of her, I'll have to upload. Kiera is the one who was the first to agree to read the Book of Mormon as a family before she is baptized. My mom's constant plea is, "Be nice to Kiera, she is the soft/gentle one."

Camping at Fort Spokane...

(Figured it was just easier to copy Allison's entry...I'm being too lazy I know... ;) But, I will add a few more pictures that I took before my camera died...



Mike and Dorothy invited us camping with them last weekend and since we had only sort of camped (no campfire = not real camping!), we accepted their invitation! We also brought along cousin James and Dorothy's girls invited cousin Emma....they were a fun addition (Ted and Stacy were out of town). They chose a campground we'd never been to before near Roosevelt Lake called Fort Spokane. We enjoyed the campsite, but didn't enjoy our noisy neighbors so much. They kept us up late, even after we politely asked them after 11:00 to keep it down....but we got our revenge when our kids woke up at the crack of dawn ready to party! :)

After breakfast we drove over to the actual Fort Spokane and did a short walking tour, which was pretty interesting. Turns out there was never a lot of war action and the Fort turned into an Indian school. I really enjoy doing historical tours.....just wish I had a better memory to retain what I learn!

After that Mike and his brother David took out his jet-skis. Since it wasn't very warm we didn't let the kids go. Unfortunately, Mike hit his toe ....repeatedly .... and I think he broke it! It looked yucky! Ouch!

The rest of us hung around the campsite all day playing ladder-ball, digging huge lakes and rivers, making home-made squirt guns from water bottles, reading books (I read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince again) and just enjoying being together. I even got to do all the girls' hair.....so fun for me!

Kassie hit a milestone when she knocked her tooth playing with cousins and Uncle Aaron convinced her to just pull it out! Congrats Kassie! You were so brave!

Uncle David also made a new best friend....well, two actually. Both Aly and Tanner loved hanging out with him.


On Sunday we broke camp and then headed over to Porcupine Bay about 20 minutes away and spent the afternoon at the beach! After a quick lunch, the kids were down in the water working on a "hot tub" and then got busy burying Emma, and then Kiera! Dorothy and I read our books in the shade while Aaron caught a quick cat nap! David pulled up on a jet ski and gave the kids tube rides...such a nice Uncle! After a few hours we hosed them down and let them play on the playground before loading them up and heading home. Tanner was asleep within minutes...exhausted from fun!

We love camping with the Gales....we're so used to each other and our kids play so nicely together. We're looking forward to our Labor Day camping trip coming up soon!!

Gale 2009 Reunion...

To begin our fun filled week, we drove down to Utah, pulling David's jet skiis leaving Friday after work and swim lessons...we made ok time (11 hours, usually takes us 9) despite a practical tire blowout on the trailer & having to stop more frequently to gas up...got into Provo about 2 am...my cousins were all waiting up for us (Ada, Elsie, Brenda & Quinton)...so, once we got the girls in the condo it was an hour or so before we all settled down to sleep.

The next morning, Tim and Julia brought Olivia down so my older 3 could meet her!! They were so excited to hold her and play with her. She has grown so much already!! We went out to eat yummy mexican food and then hung out at Grandma Nuttalls while we waited for Michael to get back. He needed to make a trip into Salt Lake to get a part fixed for the jet skiis as well as new tires on the trailer...

Once back, we headed up to Wolf Creek-near Eden,UT where Micheal's parents were able to rent 3-2 bedroom condos for the 24 of us to stay in...It's been a long time since we'd been able to do this...It was a lot of fun!! We spent a few days hanging around the condos...there was tennis, racket ball and a large pool for us to all swim in....
We also spent a few days on the beaches at a nearby reservoir. The kids took rides on the tubes and the guys took turns pulling or riding the 2nd jet ski on their own. Found out that according to the rules of jet skiing...we should have only been pulling one person in the tube at a time...You can see in the below pic...top right pic...that we have a rider on the jet ski and two tubes being towed with two kids each...BIG NO NO...HUGE FINE!!
Everyone enjoyed the sun and sand. The kids (and dads) had fun digging out a huge hole...One morning Grandma located someone who was willing to give all the grandkids rides on their horse for a very reasonable fee. Grandpa was a great sport, especially in the pool...
We had gobs of fun playing games, some nights may have been a bit too gaseous, but overall a great laugh!! The girls also enjoyed showing their cousins different things to make with oragami paper. Even Mike & Chris had fun folding away. The morning we left, Kassi realized she had a loose tooth...during the drive, she wiggled and wiggled that little tooth until she was pretty sore. A few days later, she found out that she had a second wiggly tooth!! Not sure if you can tell from the pic, but both the bottom two teeth are a bit off...
Grandma also had several fun projects that the grandkids worked on. Stenciling and thumb-printing a pillow case, gem butterflies, flower clips, and a magnetic family board. One afternoon, after a game of Phase 10 & eating through 1/2 a jug of Jelly Bellys, we gathered the kids together to "feed" them the "discarded, questionable tasting" jellys...perhaps that was a mean prank to play on them...
We spent one morning hiking around. Another morning the guys went shooting...Mike said he was grateful that Spencer provided the ammo, it was the first time he was able to fully load his ammo clip without thinking about the money he was spending...they also spotted a large moose that morning, unfortunately no one thought to bring a camera...
One night we had a fun game of family jeopordy and learned many new facts about each other. One discovery that night was that Nathan's belly could be "inflated" to be as large as Lisa's preg. belly!!
We spent an afternoon competing in family relays and water balloon games. Learned that David can tie water balloons fast but not faster than using them all up in a water fight. Everyone was a great sport and I know the kids had fun!!
Until next year!! Oregon Coast here we come!!

Swim lessons....

Swim lessons this year only lasted a week for us. (We missed out on the last week because of a family reunion.) Once again, Bonnie did a great job with the girls. Kaylee and Kiera got to really work on different strokes and improved in their diving. Kassi learned better how to do the back stroke and then the elementary stroke (I don't know the names of these things, hopefully I got them right.) Mikenna, just is beginning to figure out that it's ok to put your entire face in the water...Looking forward to next year!!